Twins: Triple-A trip cost Tommy Milone valuable service time

Twins starter Tommy Milone throws in the first inning against the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on Monday, August 11, 2014 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

HOUSTON -- Had the Twins brought left-hander Tommy Milone directly to the major leagues after acquiring him July 31, he stood to become a free agent after the 2017 season.

By stashing him at Triple-A Rochester for one start, they potentially saved themselves millions by delaying Milone's free agency until after 2018 at the earliest.

Not that Milone is all that worked up about it.

"It's possible that's what they were trying to do," Milone said. "It might be for sure that's what they were trying to do, but it's not something that I'm worried about.

"Whether they have control of me over another year, as long as I'm here, I'm happy. You never know what's going to happen four years from now."

Milone, 27, made his last start for Triple-A Sacramento in the Oakland A's system on July 29. Optioned to the minors on July 5, he needed to join the Twins by Aug. 3 in order to keep alive the possibility of finishing the year with exactly three years of service time.

Milone entered the season with two years, 18 days of service time. A full year is 172 days with 183 service days available each year.

Recalled Monday, Milone would end the season eight days short of the cutoff for three years' worth of service time.

Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony called Milone on July 31, shortly after the trade was finalized, and explained the situation to him. There was no talk of service time considerations on that call, Milone said.

Advertisement

"It was kind of brief," he said. "He welcomed me to the team. He was saying they'd just brought up some guys recently to make some starts. They had kind of a logjam up here at the moment. They were trying to iron some things out. They were going to put me in Triple-A for one or two starts and try to iron it out from there."

On the plus side for Milone, he will almost certainly qualify for salary arbitration as a so-called Super Two. He already is on the borderline of qualification.

With a 32-22 record and 3.83 earned-run average since coming up with the Washington Nationals in 2011, Milone is well positioned to receive a substantial raise over the $510,000 he is making this season. Milone has worked nearly 475 innings while making 79 starts.

By comparison, Chicago Cubs lefty Travis Wood received a first-time arbitration raise from $527,500 to $3.9 million after last season, and New York Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova went from $575,600 to $3.3 million. Milone should have statistics similar to both by season's end.

Wood qualified for arbitration after going 26-33 with a 3.83 ERA and 565 innings over 93 starts. Nova's pre-arbitration production included a 38-20 record and a 4.04 ERA over 517 innings and 82 starts.

"The ultimate thing, now that I'm here, is to stay here," Milone said. "I love pitching. I'm going to try to stay as long as I can."